Thursday, June 21, 2012

Toddler Friendly Backpack

Hello there, I am so excited! I finished my little guy's backpack yesterday and it turned out great. Mostly I'm excited because he is so excited about it. Now he keeps asking me to tell him when he gets to go to school. Two more months! I tell him.

He accompanies his older siblings to swim team practice 3 times a week and this is the perfect little tote for him to pack and bring all his necessities for passing the time.

The "Toddler Friendly Backpack" pattern came from Lisa Lam's book A Bag For All Reasons. My friend found it at the library for me. She is so nice, always on the look out for sewing books for me.

psst! notice the beautifully embroidered pillow cover behind the book? more on that later

It is a great simple knapsack pattern. I added some things to it to make it a little more substantial. I changed the velcro closure to a zipper. I used an old recycled checkered zipper I got from my mom. It pulls nice and smooth and I was happy to find it a home.

The main fabric is a lightweight denim. Originally the pattern doesn't call for a lining but I added one, along with a layer of felt for interfacing to beef it up a bit. I also liked the concept of constructing it all at once and adding bias tape to finish off the raw edges. So much easier than creating an inside and an outside. Here's what the inside looks like.

I changed the straps as well because I couldn't find the right hardware they suggested.

One more comment... if you are going to make this backpack, just know that the side pockets are tiny, definitely not big enough to hold a water bottle as I was thinking they were.